Wedding Planning 101: How to Avoid Common Scams When Planning Your Big Day

Being a savvy consumer can really help when it comes to saving time & money when planning your big day.

When planning a wedding, couples can easily become distracted with all the exciting planning that they forget to double check certain things. Vendors can see happy couples as a target for potential scams, believing that they only have one thing in mind and are dealing with a ton of pressure, making it easier for them to take advantage. Wedding planning can be a stressful time for couples, so avoid additional stress by taking the right precautions to avoid any scams.

When hiring wedding vendors, there are a bunch of things to take into consideration. Most couples just look at the quality of work the vendor has done in the past to see if it matches their wedding desires, not realizing that they too should check more in depth about the vendors themselves. Since this has become such a big issue, Attorney General Schneiderman has issued some helpful tips so that you don’t become a victim of a consumer scam:

When paying for a vendor, avoid paying cash. Credit cards companies can come in handy when an issue has to be disputed.

Before booking with a company, check out their records with the Better Business Bureau and review any complaints they’ve had in the past.

When booking a photographer or videographer, be sure to make the person’s identity part of the contract. Photographers tend to have multiple weddings on one specific date, making it easy for the company to just send someone else to shoot your wedding.

Check recent references. This will show how the companies’ job performance has been in the past couple of months.

Do not make any rushed decisions. Be sure to read over everything and review your contract before signing it and making it official.

Before making your decision, get multiple quotes from different vendors. This will give you more options to choose from and a better understanding of the services each company will provide.

Do not pay in full all at once. Hold back 25 percent of the total costs until you have the products in hand. This will assure that the companies complete their duties that are specified in the contract. For example, a photographer will sometimes shoot a wedding and take months to send out the photos because he isn’t waiting on a payment. When companies are waiting to get paid, they tend to do things in a more timely fashion.

Make sure the contracts include due dates for each task. For example, the pre-bridal photographs should be taken by a specific date, and the proofs should be ready by a specified date.

By taking the extra time out to check over these things, you are setting yourself up for a stress-free wedding day! Getting things done ahead of time will make it easier on everyone as the big day arrives so be sure to review everything, take your time with making final decisions and specify all your needs in a contract.